Investing in Your Motherhood Journey with Estelle Spano

In October 2018, I said yes to a women’s retreat, specifically for mothers, as hosted by the amazing Kari Azuma. I didn’t know Kari before this decision, I didn’t know too much about rites of passage for motherhood, which was the theme of this retreat, nor had I ever left my son for the night, let alone the 4 nights I would be away from him as I was to fly across the country to attend. All I knew in that moment, was that there was a woman out there who was speaking my language, who was in deep knowing and understanding of my pain, and was going to hold the container for me to work through that pain in an environment I knew was going to wholeheartedly allow me to bloom as a woman and a mother.

I committed to the investment on the spot, and the rest is history. Two months later, I would sit in circle surrounded by a group of incredible leaders and devoted mothers, one of whom will be joining me for this episode today, and together, we radically changed the trajectory of our motherhood experience. The retreat, titled Threshold, is a mother’s rite of passage retreat, an immersive experience of womanhood and motherhood that held space for all of us mothers to cross the threshold of motherhood with dignity and power, healing our lineage, ourselves, our relationship with the feminine and defining our legacy as women.

Whilst I’ll be bringing Kari onto the podcast in the very near future to share more with you about her work and the rite of passage experience I feel all mothers need to embark on, today’s podcast is important to me because I know how challenging it can be for mothers to invest the time, money and energy into an experience that supports their motherhood journey. I recognise that we can face many blocks when it comes to choosing something that involves extended time away from our kids, investing money that may perhaps be needed elsewhere, and choosing to invest energetically in something that is most certainly going to ask you to slow down and get really honest with yourself. I get it, I get that this motherhood gig is complex, but this is also why investing in your motherhood journey is so damn important.

This retreat changed so much for me and held me in a way I didn’t know I needed to be held. And what was amazing for me was that the journey and the benefits of this investment started the very minute I chose it for myself. Which is why I knew I had to do a podcast for mothers to help you see not only what can be gained from giving yourself permission to attend something like this, but hear from the mouths of two women who have done it and came away from the experience with so much more than we could have ever expected.

It’s my hope that this podcast will support you in doing three things

1. Open yourself up to the wisdom Estelle and I took from this experience about motherhood and womanhood.

2. Invest in a rite of passage retreat yourself and immerse yourself in Kari’s work with mothers.

3. Notice how good it feels to be part of a conversation between mothers who are connected with what’s possible in motherhood. Something truly magical happens when we allow ourselves to be surrounded by mothers who play this game with radical honesty and are willing to hold space for each other’s growth.

This was part of the power of this retreat for us, and I hope we’ve been able to recreate that energy of support and guidance around you listening by bringing this conversation between us into your day.

A bit about Estelle:

Estelle is a Mother to her three year old daughter Scarlett and it is her mission to support mothers in coming back to the deep knowing and remembering of their essence. She believes that in this process we get to find the woman we know has always been inside of us, and connect to the powerful, Intuitive, Graceful being that she is.

Estelle is a Certified Coach for Mothers who is passionate about supporting them to step into their power in all areas of their life! Through her experience working with Mothers, learning, studying and her own experiences throughout motherhood, she can relate to the everyday blessings and challenges of motherhood to provide a relatable, uplifting, supportive coaching experience for Mothers to change their mindset, overcome blocks and truly lead with Grace and Passion.

She offers a very holistic coaching method receiving her certification as a health coach through IIN, as well as learning from the worlds leading experts in holistic health and personal development.

In our conversation, Estelle and I chat about:

Creating the sacred space needed to grieve the death of who we were before becoming mothers, and how that process is illuminated when you do so surrounded and supported by a tribe of other mothers.

The lone wolf identity that self-connected women can hold onto, which can become even heavier when we become mothers.

The difference between parenting and mothering, and how we use our children to escape our own growth

The power of rites of passage work in generational healing

Reclaiming your womanhood in motherhood and using who you are as a woman to create (and continue to create) your motherhood experience

Reframing your relationship to change, and using it as your ally

How ditching the identities of motherhood can help bring you into alignment with what’s true for you right now

Allowing mother earth be part of your healing journey as a mother

The importance of using your body to help move emotions, and how our own relationship to our emotions is mirrored in how we hold space for our children’s emotions

The importance of play and fun in the healing experience

Integrating our mission in the world and our mission as a mother by reconnecting with Presence

There you will also find her eBooks for mothers - Overcoming Overwhelm and Reclaiming Your Identity in Motherhood.

Kari will be joining us on the podcast very soon, but in the meantime I highly recommend you check out her work at kariazuma.com, and you can join her next retreat in California this February by checking out the info here.